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Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari are “lacking a little bit” in the middle sector after Friday practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, but believes the team can find improvements overnight. Hamilton said: "The others look really strong. Obviously Red Bull look really strong. Mercedes picked up a lot of pace in the sessions. McLaren were looking good as well so I really don't know. As I said, the car feels pretty decent but we're lacking a little bit in the middle sector for some reason. We're just looking into why that is and see if we can pick that up tomorrow."
Lando Norris said McLaren are “not getting ahead of ourselves” despite setting the second-fastest time in Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix, insisting he is still not happy with a car he described as difficult to drive. Norris said: "FP1 not great, to be honest – FP2 a little bit happier. I'm still not very happy with the car – it's still very, very difficult to drive, but we seemed a bit closer. But, yeah, we're certainly not getting ahead of ourselves. I think we shouldn't expect anything different from normal."
Red Bull expects to reintroduce its “Macarena” rear wing at next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix after tracing the recent failures to a mechanical problem and working on fixes at its Milton Keynes factory. Technical director Pierre Wache said the team is making parts of the wing “stronger” and will not run it again until it is “bulletproof” and “100% sure”, adding: “It should be ready for Budapest.” Red Bull removed the wing for this weekend in Belgium after crashes for Max Verstappen at Silverstone and in Austrian GP qualifying, and amid FIA checks on the safety of the concept. Ferrari has continued with its own version, with Fred Vasseur saying: “So far we did 10,000km without any issue.”
Pierre Gasly said a “huge snap” caused him to lose control of his Alpine and crash out of second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. Gasly said: "I just need to work on understanding what happened in P2, just had a big snap, lost the car. But yeah, it was a huge snap and by the time it recovered, I was already off the track and I could not get back on track."
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes still have “a lot of work to do” despite topping Friday practice ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Antonelli said: "We made big changes with the car and it was a lot better, so that's a good direction. Of course, there's still a lot of work to do as a team and as well with my driving. Was a much better session and now looking forward to tomorrow."
Max Verstappen said Red Bull had a “good day” in Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix but that the second session showed the likely gap to their rivals. Verstappen said: "Pretty decent, I think. The balance is there straight away – just fine tuning a little bit with the car, which hopefully unlocks a little bit more pace. Honestly, I think from what we have as a package, it's been a good day... I'm not sure how much more there is in there compared to the others... In the second practice you see a little bit more what the real gap is probably."
Kimi Antonelli said Mercedes made “big changes” to his W17 between first and second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix and that the car felt “a lot better” in FP2. Antonelli said: "Yeah, we made big changes to the car, and it was a lot better. So that's a good direction. Of course, there's still a lot of work to do as a team, as well as with my driving. But yeah, it was a much better session, and now I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Carlos Sainz has been given a reprimand by FIA stewards at the Belgian Grand Prix after crossing the white line at pit entry during FP1. The Williams driver had committed to entering the pitlane but then cut back across the painted run-off to rejoin the track after receiving a “very late” call to stay out and recharge energy. Stewards said it “was not dangerous” in this case, but ruled the prohibition exists to avoid “an inherently dangerous situation” and issued Sainz’s first reprimand of the 2026 season.
Kimi Antonelli took the top spot in second Belgian GP practice amid two red flags
P1) Kimi Antonelli - 1:45.944 P2) Lando Norris: +0.190 P3) Max Verstappen: +0.472 P4) Lewis Hamilton: +0.747 P5) Isack Hadjar: +0.770 P6) Oscar Piastri: +0.982 P7) Franco Colapinto: +1.203 P8) George Russell: +1.285 P9) Arvid Lindblad: +1.350 P10) Liam Lawson: +1.490 P11) Charles Leclerc: +1.524 P12) Oliver Bearman: +1.848 P13) Gabriel Bortoleto: +2.008 P14) Esteban Ocon: +2.014 P15) Alexander Albon: +2.075 P16) Carlos Sainz Jnr: +2.312 P17) Nico Hulkenberg: +2.389 P18) Pierre Gasly: +3.011 P19) Valtteri Bottas: +3.255 P20) Sergio Perez: +3.652 P21) Lance Stroll: +5.187 P22) Fernando Alonso: +5.474
Williams team principal James Vowles says Formula 1’s aerodynamic rules will change “fairly significantly” for next year, with updates planned to areas including the bib, rear wing and parts of the floor. Vowles said: "The rules are actually changing aerodynamically for next year, and they're fairly significant. There's changes around the bib, the rear wing, some of the floor area. As a result of that, it isn't really as carry-over as I think everyone would like in that circumstance, but it's for good reason."
Lando Norris says F1 cars in straight mode feel like “Formula 4” machines and that Spa-Francorchamps will not be the same challenge. Norris said: "It will not even be a challenge, you have such low downforce, and the problem is that if you lift, it also shuts, so the difference is too big when you go from open to shut. I mean, you see when Max [Verstappen's] wing doesn't shut by a centimetre, you crash, and when it is open, you are not even driving a Formula 2 car, you are driving a Formula 4 car. It is not going to be the same Spa as it has always been... it is not going to be as beautiful as it's been in the past."
Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane said the team agreed to give its Belgian Grand Prix upgrade to Arvid Lindblad after deciding it could only fit one car with the chassis changes in time, so it would go to whichever driver qualified ahead at the British Grand Prix. Permane said: "The next thing I said is, look, we can flip a coin, or we can make it a little bit of fun and we'll say whoever qualifies in front in Silverstone gets the upgrade. They both signed up for that, and that's what we did."
Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg has been summoned to the Belgian Grand Prix stewards after opening practice at Spa, over a suspected failure to slow sufficiently under yellow flags in FP1. The caution was triggered when Oscar Piastri slowed his McLaren late in the session following a team instruction to stop the car due to an issue, before being asked to continue and bring it back to the garage.
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